FCI LANDS GPA: AREAS OF DIFFERENCE AL-8

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Aerial

Staff Recommendation Land Use Map

   

Alpine AL-8 Staff Recommended Designation

Rural Lands 40 (RL-40) Property Description Property Owner: David Howe, Christopher Dougherty, 9 others Property Size: 1,748 acres; 23 parcels Location/Description: Alpine Community Plan Area; East of Loveland Reservoir Near Japatul Valley Road/Japatul Road; Outside County Water Authority boundary

Existing General Plan: General Agriculture (1 DU/4, 8, 20 ac) and Multiple Rural Use (1 DU/4, 8 ac) Lot size: 40ac

Minimum Lot Size (Groundwater Ordinance) 5 acres Travel Time (See Safety Element Table S-1): Closest Fire Station — >20 minutes Prevalence of Constraints (See following page):

– high; – partially; - none Steep Slope (Greater than 25%) Floodplain Wetlands Sensitive Habitat Agricultural Lands Fire Hazard Severity Zones

Rationale for Staff Recommendation

Staff Recommendation Land Use Map is consistent with how the General Plan land use map applies Rural Lands designations in remote areas with the large parcel sizes, outside the County Water Authority boundary.

Very large existing parcel sizes [up to 355 acres]

Some parcels are only accessible by dead-end roads that exceed County Fire Code standards. Improved connectivity would require construction of new roads through steep terrain (slopes greater than 25%) to existing road approximately 1.6 miles away.

A large portion of this area contains steep slopes with undisturbed native habitat.

Properties are virtually surrounded by National Forest Lands. RL-40 designation would reduce development capacity adjacent to National Forest in the Wildland/Urban Interface.

Further improvement of infrastructure in this area, including utilities and road access required for smaller lot size zoning would have a negative impact on wilderness values, and increase the need for fuel treatments as well as other issues related to locating development in remote areas.

FCI LANDS GPA: AREAS OF DIFFERENCE AL-8

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Land Use Maps for Consideration

2012 Initial Draft Map (May 2012): This map, analyzed as the proposed project in the 2012 Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (EIR), developed based on initial input from property owners and the Community Planning Group

Staff Recommendation Land Use Map (October 2013): Land Use Map developed by staff for consideration by the Planning Commission after considering input provided in EIR public comment letters

Planning Commission Recommendation Land Use Map (November 2013): Recommendation developed by the Planning Commission based on consideration of public testimony provided during the hearings

8A

8A  8A

8A

8A  8A

8B

8A  8A

8A

8B

8B8B

8B

8B

FCI LANDS GPA: AREAS OF DIFFERENCE AL-8

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Constraints

1-Steep Slope (Greater than 25%) 2-Distance from a Public Road

3-Habitat Evaluation Model 4-Burn Frequency

Context

Alpine AL-8 contains 23 parcels that range in size from 4.7 to 355 acres for a total of 1,748 acres. Currently, this area of consideration is sparsely developed with some agriculture and support structures. The area is located approximately 2.3 miles east of Loveland Reservoir along Japatul Valley Road and Japatul Road approximately 3.7 miles southwest of Interstate 8. AL-8 is outside of the County Water Authority boundary and surrounded by the Cleveland National Forest (CNF) in a federally-designated wilderness area. Portions of the area are constrained by steep slopes (refer to Figure-1). Also, approximately one-third of AL-8 is more than one-half mile from the nearest County maintained road (refer to Figure-2). This area contains approximately 131 acres of High Value Biological Habitat (refer to Figure-3). Some properties contain farmland of local importance, grazing land and prime agricultural land. Nearly all of the parcels are located within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone with some areas of AL-8 burning up to four times in the past 90 years (see Figure-4).

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Comparison of Land Use Maps

Category 2012 Initial Draft Map (May 2012)

Staff Recommendation (October 2013)

PC Recommendation (November 2013)

Assignment of Designations

(in acres)

RL-20 1,748 0 386

RL-40 0 1,748 1,362

Maximum Dwelling Units 81 41 49

Zoning Use Regulation A70-Limited Agriculture Same as

2012 Initial Draft Map Same as

2012 Initial Draft Map Zoning Minimum Lot Size (acres)

8

Spot Designation/Zone No

Community Consensus for Land Use Map Support Alpine CPG (09/27/12 minutes)

Property owners: Borchard (03/11/13) Howe (03/13/13) Beale (03/14/13)

EHL (10/11/13 letter)

Opposed USFS (03/18/13 letter) Alpine CPG (09/19/13 minutes) Alpine CPG (02/27/14 minutes)

 

Description of Recommendations

Staff Recommendation Land Use Map ─ Assigns a Rural Lands 40 designation to all 23 parcels, for a possible total yield of 41 dwelling units.

Planning Commission Land Use Map ─ Assigns a Rural Lands 40 designation to 16 parcels, but assigns a Rural Lands 20 designation to 7 parcels that are located adjacent to an area predominated by eight-acre parcels either directly accessible from, or in the close vicinity to Japatul Valley Road. This recommendation would result in a possible total yield of 49 dwelling units.

While both the Staff and Planning Commission Recommendation Land Use Maps would be consistent with the General Plan Goals and Policies; the differences in the level of consistency is discussed below.

General Plan Conformance

Policy Staff Recommendation PC Recommendation LU-1.1 Assigning Land Use Designations. Assign land use designations on the Land Use Map in accordance with the Community Development Model (CDM) and boundaries established by the Regional Categories Map.

The Staff recommendation Land Use Map is consistent with the CDM because it proposes a low density Rural Lands designation in a remote area of the Alpine community, which is entirely outside the CWA boundary.

The PC Recommendation Land Use Map is also consistent with the CDM because, as with the Staff Recommendation, this recommendation also applies Rural Lands designations. However, under the PC Recommendation Land Use Map, seven parcels adjacent to an area predominated by eight-acre parcels and accessible to Japatul Valley Road are assigned a higher (RL-20) density.

LU-6.2 Reducing Development Pressures Assign lowest-density or lowest-intensity land use designations to areas with sensitive natural resources.

The Staff Recommendation Land Use Map assigns a RL-40 designation to reflect that over one-half of the area is constrained by either steep slopes greater than 25 percent, high value habitat, or both.

While the PC Recommendation Land Use Map assigns both the RL-20 and RL-40 designations, the majority of physical and environmental are located in the area proposed with a RL-40 designation.

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Policy Staff Recommendation PC Recommendation LU-6.11 Protection from Wildfires and Unmitigable Hazards. Assign land uses and densities in a manner that minimizes development in extreme, very high and high fire threat areas or other unmitigable hazardous areas.

The area is located in a very high fire hazard severity zone. In response, the Staff Recommendation Land Use Map would assign a very low density Rural Lands 40 designation to minimize development potential.

The PC Recommendation Land Use Map would assign a combination of low density Rural Lands 20 and 40 designations, which would minimize development potential, but not to the extent that the Staff Recommendation Land Use Map would.